Technological Knowledge and the Nature of Technology:
Implications for Teaching and Learning

Summary of Final Report

Vicki Compton, Ange Compton, 2010

Overview

The Technological Knowledge and Nature of Technology: Implications for teaching and learning (TKNoT: Imps) research was fully funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Education for a period of two years and eight months. The contract was held by UniServices Limited, a wholly owned company of The University of Auckland. The Project Director and Senior Researcher was Dr Vicki Compton. The Co-researcher was Ange Compton. The specific focus of this research was on developing classroom based understandings of progression for the five components within the Technological Knowledge (TK) and the Nature of Technology (NoT) strands, and exploring pedagogical strategies that would support students to progress.

Classroom research was undertaken in Findings: Stage One to determine students' current understandings of these components and to begin to refine the nature of progression captured in the draft Indicators of Progession for the Technological Knolwdge (TK) and Nature of technology (NoT) strands.

Findings: Stage Two of the research sought to explore the nature of these progressions further and to begin to develop pedagogical strategies to enhance student understandings. The findings from the first two phases of the TKNoT: Imps research resulted in the May 2010 publication of classroom based Indicators of Progression. These documents now include indicators informed by student data and more extensive teacher guidance related to effective pedagogy.

Findings: Stage Three of the TKNoT:Imps research focussed on the development and trialing of two teaching tools – one for 'Characteristics of Technology' (CoT) and one for Technological Modelling' (TM). The aim of these tools was to provide teachers with strategies to push student understanding to Level 4 and above. Both tools are currently under re-development and will be trialed again as part of a the Technological Literacy: Implications for teaching and learning (TL: Imps) research project.

The Technological Literacy: Implications for teaching and learning (TL: Imps) project is a new Ministry of Education-funded research project. Learning Progression Diagrams for each component of technology have been developed as part of this project.